What is the situation like in Pietermaritzburg?

It appears that the same motivation drove the residents of the Pietermaritzburg community to take to the streets on Wednesday to voice their frustrations with the Msunduzi municipality.

Roads were barricaded with burned tyres and rubble, and taxis were forcefully stopped from operating on their main routes.

Without realising the consequences of their actions and blinded by anger and frustration, they burned down three electricity transformers.

This left the Haniville, Swapo and Copesville without any power. Busy Mkhize, who did not seem affected by the actions of her co-conspirators, said that

“We have been waiting for houses since 2004. That is why we have started to invade [the] vacant land. Noone will stop us from building our houses. Some of us are old but we live with our parents. You can’t watch your dad or brother taking a bath”.

Busi, along with hundreds of other residents, occupied a stretch of land that is set aside for a housing project that the municipality had planned to build houses on it as of next year.

Siphamandla Madlala, the ward councillor of the area, seems to be the target of this protest. Residents want him removed, citing that he has done nothing since he came into office.

The municipality, working together with the Sukuma Sonke project, has built 67 houses so far, and residents are alleging that the people who occupy them are not from their community.

The municipality has since denied this, stating that the residents who live in those houses have a legitimate claim.